


Killing Me Slowly

by SweetAshori



Series: SenHaku Week 2021 [1]
Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Budding Love, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Feelings Realization, Jealousy, Misunderstandings, SenHaku Week (Dr. STONE)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29348010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetAshori/pseuds/SweetAshori
Summary: How could he have missed the signs? When did they turn from being somewhat friends to loving partners? Neither ever showed such interest in romance in general, let alone with one another. So how...?Written for SenHaku Week!Prompt 2: Jealousy
Relationships: Asagiri Gen & Kohaku, Asagiri Gen/Kohaku, Ishigami Senkuu & Kohaku, Ishigami Senkuu/Kohaku
Series: SenHaku Week 2021 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2155740
Comments: 3
Kudos: 35





	Killing Me Slowly

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Dr. STONE. I just really like it. A lot.
> 
> Authoress' Note: One of my pieces for SenHaku Week! This has been playing off of ideas I've had for awhile, inspired by the song Killing Me Slowly by Bad Wolves. Please enjoy!
> 
> Prompt 2: Jealousy
> 
> _So I keep you at arm's length and let you go  
>  But I don't wanna give you away  
> Yeah I keep you at arm's length and let you go  
> But only if you promise to stay_
> 
> _You think you know that you know  
>  But you really don't know me  
> I know you love so hard  
> And it's killing me slowly_
> 
> _And now I can't eat, can't sleep  
>  Knowing that you're not lonely  
> I know you love so hard  
> And it's killing me slowly_

There is nothing more troublesome and illogical as a brain filled with love.

Those words were some of the most important words that Senku Ishigami had ever said since his revival into the stone world. They were helping to establish himself among all of the stone worlders – and other revived – that were to eventually come into his life. He would be the savior of the world, inherited from his father, and bring humanity back from the stone that they were cast into by the great petrification. He would be friendly, caring in his own way, someone that they can look to and rely on. However, when it came to any sort of romantic pursuits – a logical possibility that there would be many around his age that he would come across, and hormones and feelings are strong objects that they would experience – he was establishing that he wouldn't take part in such frivolities. He will not fall in love with someone else, nor will he allow someone else to fall in love with him. Science didn't allow for such a thing.

… Those words proved to be a load of shit. As he was learning very quickly as his teeth ground against one another and his nails dug deep into the skin of his palm, with bile bubbling in the pit of his stomach and threatening to come up through his throat.

The day he spoke those words, he said them to the one that brought him to the village he eventually learned was a “gift” left behind by his father, Byakuya. That person was Kohaku, a warrior woman that was trapped beneath a tree after a fight with their once common enemy – the fearsome Tsukasa – and those words were spoken in response to her introduction. That she could be falling for him. That was something he wouldn't allow to stand. Thankfully, she clarified her comments quickly – it was her odd way of saying that she liked him and his cause, and was willing to help him out – but it was still a boundary being set. One she respected, one she accepted. One that he actually thought she shared, never showing signs of wanting to pursue romance with anyone nor did anyone desire to pursue her in return. Her “gorilla” tenancies being a deterrent, to be sure.

And yet, he was feeling like that thought was wrong as he came across her sleeping comfortably within the arms of another, a beautiful and serene short smile on her face as she seemingly snuggled up with her slumber buddy.

That other person also seemed to be very comfortable, despite sitting up against the trunk of a tree, arms wrapped around Kohaku as if to cover her and keep her warm, head tilted to one side to lay almost too gently upon her own with white locks tangling themselves with her blonde strands, lips a bit agape as small snores came through. They looked too comfortable, too cozy, too sweet together, sleeping as they were. Almost like they were a couple in love... and that made Senku want to puke.

How could he have missed the signs? When did they turn from being somewhat friends to loving partners? Neither ever showed such interest in romance in general, let alone with one another. So how...?

No... how and when this happened didn't actually matter. What was more apparent was how much he had been lying to himself all this time. Those words he told her were nothing but bluster, because it was he that had fallen for her. The one that found love to be nothing but trouble was actually in love himself. And now it looked to have been too late.

All because he wanted to keep a boundary between himself and his Kingdom. All because he wanted to keep his focus entirely on science, on reviving the world. He ignored all of the signs that told him he was disobeying his own line in the sand. All of those extra smiles and conversation, all of the lingering touches that he had never shared with anyone else, all of the times she would pout and yell at him for using the nickname that only he was allowed to say to her... all of it went ignored. And all at once, it came flooding in over him as his crimson gaze struggled to pull itself away from the scene before him.

Kohaku yawned and stirred, and for a moment there was panic. Senku didn't want to catch him staring at her as she was at her most vulnerable, nor did he want her slumbering partner to be awoken as well. Who knows what sort of commentary would be made from those manipulative lips if the scientist was caught staring at them while they slept. He had to leave, had to hide, had to make sure neither of them had no clue that he was even there.

Alas, he was no lion. And before he could even get himself turned completely around, a small call of his name rang out: “Senku?”

Crimson met blinding ocean blue, and that acid that built up burned at the base of his throat. Shit... he wasn't prepared for this. None of this. But he couldn't leave now, not that she was awake again. Not as she was, very carefully, pulling herself out from the arms of her protector with a whisper of “I'm sorry” in case she was being a disturbance – relief came to both of them when it seemed like the third wasn't at all bothered by the extra movement – and now approached Senku with reverent steps.

“Is something the matter?” she asked curiously, very business-like in her use of words.

“No. I was just passing by,” he replied curtly, trying to not let any of the bubbles in his emotions pop.

She blinked, tilting her head to one side with an odd twitch of the brows; she was analyzing him, he knew. It was a trait of hers that she had mastered over the year and longer since he had met her. It was how she had got to know him as well as she does now, he bemused, much to his current level of chagrin.

A slight shrug to her shoulders followed a released sigh. “Alright. Well, I'm going to go over to the river for a little bit. I'll be back shortly,” she replied with a tired inflection, rubbing her eyes for a brief moment before dropping her arm back to her side, making a small bounce on the heels of her sandals before preparing to make her final exit.

“When did you two become a couple?”

The question flowed out of Senku's lips like water rushing from a fountain, but the instant they left it almost felt like his appendages were burning. The way she paused, quirking a brow at him with a small “hmm?” set his heart into overdrive.

“What's that now?” she asked, wanting to make sure she heard his question correctly.

There wasn't any turning back now, that was for sure. Kohaku was every bit the lioness he had deemed her. Her metaphoric claws were out, hooking him with just those words and that ever-curious gaze, and the scientist knew that she would only dig deeper if he had tried to run now.

Ombred bangs fluttered as he nudged his head towards the slumbering man. “Just curious how you managed to keep your relationship under my nose, that's all. You looked pretty comfortable, sleeping like that.”

She blinked again, confused by Senku's accusations, although she put two and two together rather quickly, realizing how he came to his conclusion. She snorted out a laugh, causing another ripple of acid to burn the base of Senku's throat.

“We're not a couple, Senku. You really think I would be interested in a guy like him like that?” she explained with another laugh, poking a thumb in the same direction as the head nudge, “No, that was... well, it's rather silly, I guess.”

Turning a bit on her heels, Kohaku held her hands behind her back. “I heard some of the modern timers talking about their parents that are still stuck in the stone. About how much they missed them, and how much they couldn't wait for you to succeed at reviving everyone,” she continued, her voice becoming wispy and soft, “I don't know why, but... I started to think about my mother. How I wish I could've spent more time with her. She spent so much time with Ruri, passing down the Hundred Tales and preparing her to become the next priestess, that I didn't get much time with her, especially near the end.”

She realized the weight of her words and quickly waved her hands in front of her face as she went to clarify her statement, “I don't hold that against either of them, though! I know that Mother and Ruri have important roles in our village, and I'm glad that Ruri got to spend so much time with her. But... I wish that I could've had some of that time too.”

She let out a heavy sigh, head turning downward towards the ground, “I started to get very emotional, so I got out everyone's way so I wouldn't be a bother. Just to collect myself. Figuring a few minutes alone would be enough.”

Gaze turned towards the still sleeping third member of the current triangle. “Well... he saw I was upset, and sat with me and tried to comfort me. And somewhere in all of that, something in me just broke and I couldn't stop crying. I think I actually scared him at first, because none of you have ever seen me like that,” she said the last line with a laugh before returning to that wispy, nostalgic tone, “He held me, trying to calm me down, and I guess somehow or another we ended up falling asleep.”

Attention went back to Senku, and he hated how stunning the huntress looked as she smiled, “I know it all sounds out of character, but... I guess he isn't all self-serving, huh?”

Fists clenched harder than they already were, although she didn't seem to pay attention. “I guess so,” he replied with some level of bitterness.

However, she didn't pick up the bitterness as he mixed it with his usual sarcasm, flashing her a classic smirk as the relief of knowing that his perceptions were incorrect. Kohaku had not become attached to anyone. Everything was as it were in the moments before he came across the sickening scene, although it really wasn't the same. Because he knew the gates were open; he was fully realized that he had crossed the line within himself. He couldn't just ignore the feelings that had ran through him when he had thought that she was connected to another person. Those feelings of loss and jealousy that coursed through his veins when he believe that he had lost his chance because of his own blindness... there was no way he could just pretend he never felt such things.

He couldn't act on them either, however. At least, not right now. He knew this. There was still so much work to be done, and if there was ever a hint that he held some sort of intimate feeling towards the huntress, if anything were to ever happen with an enemy that opposes his plan like what Tsukasa had tried... it was something he couldn't risk. He couldn't put her such a dangerous risk upon her. Not now. Not yet. For her safety, for her sake, he had to keep this a secret. A very annoying secret.

Kohaku made some noise as she stretched out her arms and legs, the conversation now dying. “Honestly, I think I might just head for home. If I go to the river now, I'll probably fall asleep again, and sleeping on wet dirt doesn't sound like fun,” she remarked, chuckling a bit to herself before she turned towards her friend with another inquisitive glance, “You sure there's nothing you need from me, Senku?”

The scientist hesitated to answer right away, although he was certain that she wasn't thinking it was anything out of the ordinary. If anything, she was likely getting the hint that he was plotting out something that would take up the rest of her night and keep her awake, and was mentally preparing herself for whatever hard work was incoming.

He scoffed after a few seconds of quiet, lifting one hand up and resting it upon Kohaku's head, ruffling her blonde locks with a gentle but firm motion. Confused, she made a small “eep”, quirking a brow at him as she tried to hold back the heat that was wanting to burn her cheeks.

“Wh-what the heck!?”

“You did enough for today. But you better rest well, because we got a lot of work to do tomorrow, lioness.”

A vein popped on her forehead as she pouted and knocked Senku's hand off of her head. “I'm not a lioness, you jerk!” she snapped at him, crossing her arms over her chest as her cheeks puffed out, turning around with a fierce twist and taking three stomping steps away in anger.

She didn't get far before the call of her name stopped her, just as her call stopped him: “Kohaku.”

She turned around, with knitted brows and a small pout still to her lips, “What?”

He wasn't at all dissuaded by her irritated act, continuing to smirk at her with now one hand at his belt and the other resting limply at his side, taking three steps himself to align with her again, meeting her surprised gaze. “Next time, I'll be the one to hold you,” he said with no signs of discomfort or embarrassment, walking away as soon as the words left his lips, leaving her a blubbering mess as she tried to figure out what he meant by that.

After several seconds of nonsense and flustering, she found herself angry again, feeling teased and annoyed with the scientist's strange ways, stomping the dirt with her heel again like a ticked off child, going the opposite direction to head to the river as she originally said she would, now wanting to dip her face in the cool water before she made the attempt to go to bed for the night.

Unbeknownst to either of them, the third person was now entirely awake, just playing the part as to listen in on their conversation without suspicion. With the two now gone off on their own ways, dark cerulean eyes opened up as a devilish chuckle streamed from a toothy grin.

“My, my... never thought the day would come that dear Senku-chan would ever be jealous of little old me~”

_**\- end -** _


End file.
